User:Student 62/Notebook/Biology 210 at AU
Leah Brennan 2/11/2016 Heading: Identifying and Studying Plants and Fungi Purpose: The purpose of this experiment was to give examples of how plants evolved, describe the characteristics of fungi and be able to recognize it’s difference from a plant, to know the difference between angiosperms and bryophytes and provide examples of each, to understand the alternation of generations in bryophytes or angiosperms and finally, to identify the structure and function of plant reproductive organs.
Methods and Materials: We returned to our transect to collect a 500g sample leaf litter containing dead leaves, soil and plant matter and placed it in a ziplock bag. We also took samples from five different plants and looked for seeds or flowering plants which we were unable to locate (most likely due to the cold weather). We were unable to find any seeds in our transect because none of the plants in the garden are flowering plants. After recording our observations from the five leaf samples we took, we observed bread mold in a petri dish, better known as Rizopus stolonifera. This is a type of zygomycete that grows on fruit, bread and other foods, forming a whitish mass of hyphae filaments called mycelium. This particular mold was growing from a corn plant. On top of the hyphae were black globelike structures called sporangia which contain spores. Following this observation, we then used prepared Berlese funnel in order to extract any organisms from our leaf litter. We poured 25 mL of ethanol/water solution into a conical tube. We then fit a piece of screening material into the bottom of the funnel and taped it in place. The leaf litter sample was carefully stuffed into the top of the funnel with the bottom taped to the inside of the tube so that the mouth of the funnel was submerged in the ethanol. The structure was clamped in place with a ring stand and placed under a 40 watt lamp, about 1-2 inches from the top of the litter, and covered with foil. It was to be left until the next lab period.
Data and conclusions: Transect sample plants Location and # in transect Description (size and shape) Vascularization Specialized structures Mechanisms of Reproduciton 1 ground plant Ovular, 18 cm leaf Netlike veins Stomata seeds 2 Ground plant 32 cm, linear Parallel veins Stomata seeds 3 Ground plant 7cm ovular Web-like veins Stomata seeds 4 Ground plant 4.5cm, ovular Netlike veins Stomata seeds 5 Ground plant 14cm, spade Netlike veins Stomata seeds
http://openwetware.org/images/b/b4/Image1_%283%29.JPG This is a picture of the Rizopus stolonifera.
It was unfortunate that we were not able to acquire any seeds, but we knew that these plants reproduced through seeds because of our background knowledge of plants. It was interesting to learn about the various ways in which plants spread and reproduce as well as how their structure is often related to their function. When we tried to determine if the leaves were moncot or dicot, we came to an agreement that they were all dicot except for plant number 2 because of its parallel veins. If we were to do this experiment again, it would help to wait for the weather to turn warm so we could view the plants in their full form.
